ComplaintsforAmerican Institute For Foreign Study, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  01/29/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was a student in AIFS Fall 2023 ***** Study Abroad program. One requirement was to purchase trip cancelation insurance, it was not mandated in anyway that we must purchase their trip cancelation insurance. Our flight was canceled and we were instructed to file a claim with our insurance and if I we needed help to contact Karen W****** who was out AIFS point of contact. I did file a claim, however my insurance requires a written verification of cancelation, proof of ticket purchase from the airline, and full-trip itinerary. I reached out to Karen W******, but she felt no need for me to have that information and essentially "ghosted" me. I also contacted AIFS and they are also ignoring me and have not contacted me (all emails between AIFS, Karen W****** and myself are attached). I thoroughly read the terms and conditions, as well as the contract before signing. Nothing I signed started that they would not provide documentation for things we orchard through them. I am also being audited and proof of ticket purchase from airline was something requested. Should I tell the *** that they just have to accept AIFS' receipt and I can't do anything because the feel no need fit me to have that information? The three documents aren't an unreasonable request, in my opinion. I see no logical reason for AIFS to be so difficult in this matter. I'm not requesting money, I'm not requesting other students information either. I'm only asking for information that would pertain to me. It feels as if they're retaliating against me for not purchasing their insurance or trying to hide something.

  Business response

  02/14/2024

  Hello, 

  I do apologize, I submitted information, but I cannot tell if it is being sent to you.  The individual who is reporting me in particular to the BBB was a college student who attended a student abroad program that their school arranged in conjunction with the American Institute for Foreign Study.  ********* ******* sent abroad faculty to teach a group of students in Rome  for the fall 2023 and the American Institute For Foreign Study was contracted to arrange classrooms, accommodations, activities and excursions and offer an optional transportation package.  

  Ms. ************* used the outbound flight in September and flew home in December.  The airline delayed the flight due to weather conditions and flights were grounded.

  Sincerely,

  Karen

   

   

  Customer response

  02/15/2024

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I asked Karen and emailed AIFS about the documents requested from my insurance. Karen W****** and the company AIFS has never replied. They advised the Study Abroad Coordinator at my college to have me submit my claim through their insurance CISI, I did and am being ignored by them as well!

  All I asked for three documents, only pertaining to my flight. I never asked for information about anyone else, so I am unsure on why AIFS is being so shady and secretive by refusing to give me the documents or the information for me to get them myself. 

  Karen W****** had only reiterated the reason my flight was delayed, but has, once again, refused to address the issue of her ignoring my emails, choosing to host me, her company not responding, and why she and b get company refuse to give me information about my flight information. 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* *************

  Business response

  02/16/2024

  Dear Ms. *************,
  I contacted the Travel Agent again.
  Your return flight home from Rome on December 2, 2023, was cancelled due to weather in ******.
  As I have mentioned the airline was responsible to rebook airline tickets in this situation. Your airline ticket was under airport control and our agents did not have access to any information.
  Your school’s faculty member who taught your class abroad worked with the airline when the flights were cancelled and rebooked at the airport. No ticket information regarding the return flight information was shared with AIFS. Our Travel Agent was never given specific details by the faculty-leader or the airline regarding the new ticket number for which you flew home on.
  It is our understanding that everyone in the group returned home on 3DEC (one day later). Some flew on AF and others on AZ/DL. Those tickets were issued by the airline, and we were not provided the ticket info.
  The airline provided the overnight accommodation.
  Your e-ticket number *** *** *** ****, and your ***** *nd last name as it appeared on your ticket should work to obtain a passenger receipt.
  Sincerely,
  AIFS Abroad

• Initial Complaint

  04/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am writing to discuss a major problem and liability that I am having with your company. I am contacting you after Amy A****, and two local child coordinators seem to not care about what has happened in my home. A little bit of background I switched to your agency from cultural care as I wasn't happy with the au pairs and my current au pairs experiences in terms of making connections. We had no issues with cultural care as an agency. In my area there are more au pairs through au pair in ******* so I decided to make the switch. It has been nothing but a disaster and a headache. I was very close to a match with someone from ****** and on December 2, 2022 Patrycia sent a spotlight email about Janae S****** (******). I really liked what was written there, especially with 9000 hours of childcare. However, I am not sure who vetted that because she has been a 100% a disaster since she has stepped into my house. Her comments and actions of: 1. I wish I would have matched with a ***** family or 2. You guys are ****** I thought you were nothing or 3. Her always having her earpiece in and being on the phone or 4. I really only like boy babies, girl babies are so annoying or 5. leaving my 14 month old outside alone or 6. leaving my house to take a phone call and leaving my 14 month old alone are enough of a liability for not only me, but this is neglect. And she admitted to leaving him alone via a text message. Do you honestly think someone who walks outside to take a phone call comes with 9000 hours of childcare experience. Do you know how quickly a child can get in trouble? Would you honestly trust your kids with this person? But yet again you are placing her with someone else? I have had many emails with your company, Amy &Lynn and was told multiple times a refund is coming, but yet you ghost me when it comes time to processing it. Now I am demanding it all, full refund for every dollar I paid and the fees paid to Janae. total - $3485

  Business response

  04/17/2023

  Dear BBB, I am sorry that the ********* host family had  a negative experience. While we strive that each host family has a successful placement we understand that sometimes placements are not successful and we wish that the ********* family's experience was different. Our normal refund process can take 30 days however given the ********* family experience and once the au pair left the host family home the approved refund was processed within 7 days.

  We wish the host family all the best with their alternate childcare arrangements.

  Sincerely, Yasmine
  

• Initial Complaint

  02/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We had an au pair named ******* through Au Pair in America (APIA) (aka American Institute For Foreign Study, Inc.) from September to December of 2022. ******* ultimately decided we were not the right fit for her and requested a rematch in December of 2022. We were sad to see her go but did not challenge her decision. Unfortunately, we were not able to find a suitable rematch for the timeframe we required childcare. I made the decision to leave my job so that I could stay home to care for my children. I made this decision with the understanding that APIA would provide a prorated refund for the program fee we paid. I came to this understanding based upon a text conversation I had with our coordinator, Gwen Remy-Rahn. I've attached a screenshot of that conversation to this complaint. In it, you'll see that Gwen indicated she received approval for our family to be reimbursed on 12/21/22. I reached back out to Gwen on 1/24/23 after being told by someone in accounting that our refund had not been approved. Gwen indicated that she had communicated with her superior, Claudia Nixon and that she confirmed our refund was approved. She also indicated that Claudia would be in communication with accounting to ensure our refund was issued. I reached out to Gwen a third time on 2/2/23 to let her know we had still not received funds. She provided us with Claudia Nixon's email address so that we could connect with her directly. I reached out to Claudia on 2/3/23 requesting that she please assist us with issuing our prorated refund. As of today, 2/17/23, Claudia has not responded. I have attached the screenshots of my text conversations with Gwen and the email we sent to Claudia requesting assistance.

  Business response

  02/21/2023

  We are sorry to hear about the experience the **** family had while inquiring about their refund. APIA's policy is to offer a standard refund based on the refund schedule published in our program support and policies document. Based on the schedule and the funds paid by the **** family they were not eligible for a standard refund, however, I have reviewed the documentation that the **** family provided and the text exchange with their community counselor, Gwen. Given that the community counselor indicated the **** family is eligible for a prorated refund we will issue that to honor what was told to the family. We are sorry for any miscommunication and will process the refund of $1052.81. It may take up to 7 business days to appear in their electronic checking account that was used to draft their payments.We wish the family all the best and hope that this resolves their concerns. Best regards, Yasmine O****

• Initial Complaint

  01/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Hello, The reason of this first complaint through BBB with Au Pair in America, (aka American Institute For Foreign Study) as it is listed like that in your website, it is because they owe me money. The reasons are explained in the correspondence email I have attached. Au Pair in America provided services for less than 1/3 of the time and owes me $ 1,734.39. What bothers me the most is that when I requested Au Pair services on about September 2021, I communicated to them that I was going on deployment to Africa on Feb 2022- Dec 2022, and the main reason I needed their services is because I was leaving at home my wife and only child of 1 year old. However, since the services started "Dec 2021" I have not been able to get the services I was promised. Please note, that I have attempted many times to get in touch with Au Pair in America but I have not been able to reach anyone. I requested appointments for specific time to speak with them but have not gotten any response. Therefore, I am forced to start this first complaint with BBB before I take other actions and I hope it gets resolved here. Thanks for your time and support, ****** ******* ******* ****** **** ******** **** **** *** **************

  Business response

  01/30/2023

  A refund was issued to the consumer on 1/25/2023 per the standard refund policy that was part of the agreement the consumer agreed to upon apply. 

  A copy is attached. Several calls were made to the consumer in early January to discuss the refund but we received no response.  We are sorry that their experience was not satisfactory and believe we have fulfilled our refund policy as stated.

   

   

  Customer response

  02/03/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: First: I have to waste my time to go through BBB (which I appreciate BBB for doing this) to request my rightful refund money. Second: I only received a part of the money, a total of $771.06 out of $ 1,734.39. Like I mentioned in my complaint, the business failed many times in getting me an appointment to talk with me after I tried millions of times to get in touch with them, even from Africa. $963.33 may not be much for them (Au Pair Agency) but for a Veteran Family like ours it is and means something. and Third: I reject their response because from the beginning I initiate business with them I was told by them that ANY SERVICE NOT USED, WILL BE PRORATED, and that there wouldn't be ANY HIDDEN FEE63S. 

  Therefore, I respectfully request to BBB to get in touch with this agency so I can rightfully obtain the money that is owe to me: $963.33

  Thanks.

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *******

  Business response

  02/16/2023

  Mr. ******* has mentioned in his complaint that he is a veteran. We would be willing to offer him our military discount which normally is for active duty military.  This would mean an additional $500 would be returned to him ( we would not pro-rate as usual).  Please submit military documentation so that we can process this additional credit. 

  Other than this, we feel that our refund was issued in line with our policies and signed agreement and no further changes will be made.

  We are sorry he was not satisfied with the program.

   

  Tell us why here...

  Customer response

  02/20/2023

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory partially because I am tired dealing with a company that don't even have their policies straight up. I will considered fully closed when I get the final $500 dollars. Even though it should have been more than that. 

  Attached is copy of my ***** proving I am a veteran and just returned from overseas deployment. So, I look forward for the money to be deposited soon. 

   

  To the question why I feel the services were not satisfactory:

  1. Well, first, it was all the bad communication from the representative that handle my case since I joined the company to get their services. That lady is the one that verbally promised me and said that their program was "PRORATED". 

  2. I have not ever seen your company's REFUND POLICY. Even though I requested it many times. 

  3. Had you pay the $3700 ish from the beginning, this wouldn't have gone this way. Your company first refunded only $3000 and then MADE ME, WASTE MY TIME to come this terms to request what was right for me because your company didn't have a policy. 

  4. I am sad we needed to come to this but I was a family veteran that needed your services very badly because I was going away. I had to dealt a lot dealing with your company from overseas and my wife and my little kid. Had your company told me upfront you could not deliver the services I requested, I wouldn't have put my faith and the safe of my family on your hands. 

  I look forward for the last $500 and hope your company do a total review of your personal and training your people thoroughly. 

   

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *******

• Initial Complaint

  02/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We joined APIA for the reason of exploring a match with a particular au pair. Within less than 48 hrs of her arrival, we officially sounded the alarm that she was not a safe caretaker for our family of two toddlers. We were forced to continue to house and employ her, during which time she left knives out on the counter within the children's reach, left the gas burner on (without the fire, just the gas) for over half an hour, didn't feed our children anything but tomatoes and strawberries for an entire day, and other examples of endangerment. We finally got through that we cannot complete the "required" month together for the safety of all involved, and were told we had to do two more weeks together as she searched for another family. We spent hours on the platform reaching out & interviewing other au pair, expressing interest in over a dozen substitutes, in the meanwhile no one ever reached out to us to help with replacement placing. Then all of a sudden, before these required two weeks were up, the au pair told us she has decided to leave our home to another state where her family resides, so she can focus on her interviews of a new family. This ordeal of 2.5 weeks cost us over a thousand dollars of payments for her flight and direct payments to her, not to mention put our jobs at risk for the amount of time we had to take off to train, supervise, and then find last minute coverage. The agency, which at this point has provided no service to us, offered a partial refund which would in the end mean we pay almost $3,000 for this 2.5 week awful and dangerous experience. Not only is that not sufficient given the circumstances, but it's now been months and we still haven't seen even this refund or heard anything else from them. The agency needs to screen their service providers better, and if told that child negligence and endangerment is going on, they need to change their policy to immediately remove that au pair, rather than require a continued relationship.

  Business response

  04/07/2022

  We are sorry to hear about the ******** host family's experience. We would not want any family to join our program and be met with challenges that don't assist them in their program experience. Our staff is always available at a local and corporate level to work with the family and support them when a placement isn’t meeting their expectations. I see that the ********’ family were in touch with both their local and corporate support. Given the ********' experience and concerns the program offered a prorated refund of the unused program fees on their contract instead of processing a standard refund as agreed upon in the Hot Family Agreement. We apologize for any delay in getting the refund to the host family and would have liked the opportunity to assist them with an alternate placement to see them have a successful match.

  Customer response

  04/07/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  

  It would have been nice to receive that message 6+ months ago when everything occurred. While we appreciate the initial step, we are out over $1000 in airfare and weekly stipends directly to the au pair, which we have no way of recouping. The fees paid to the agency, which were supposed to be for a service, were not rendered -- instead we were forced to house someone who endangered and neglected our kids, someone not fit for childcare in the first place. We communicated this within 48 hours of her arrival, so a proration (especially for the forced extended time) does not make sense. 

  We understand that flukes can happen, and hope the agency can take full responsibility for this situation and not try to squeeze a profit from a failed service experience.

  At this point we are looking for a full refund of all money paid to the agency to consider the situation righted, which is a remaining balance of $828.58. 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  The ******** family

  Business response

  04/14/2022

  We spoke to Ms. ******** this afternoon to review the additional concerns and find an amicable solution to their family experience. After review APIA has agreed to refund the ******** Family the full fees paid to their placement with au pair, *****. The additional refund will be processed within 7 business days and this information was relayed to Ms. ********. Please let us know if you need any additional information.

  Regards, Yasmine
  

  Customer response

  04/18/2022

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Thank you all for your time in making this right for us.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ********

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩